As we all know, the first historical figure to unify China was Qin Shi Huang, known as the "First Emperor of the Ages".
However, Liang Qichao, a master of traditional Chinese studies in the late Qing Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, admired another person very much, not only praising him as "the first emperor of China after the Yellow Emperor", but also firmly believing that if he did not die unexpectedly, the first to unify China would definitely be him, and it would not be the turn of the later Qin Shi Huang.
So, who is this person who makes Liang Qichao so admired?
Speaking of which, this person is also a famous person, that is, King Wuling of Zhao, who is known as the "grandfather of the reformer" in China for "riding and shooting in Hufu".
King Wuling of Zhao is named Zhao Yong, and the way he made his debut on the stage of history was enough to suppress the countless heroes in history.
When Zhao Yong was 15 years old, his father Zhao Suhou died, at that time the Zhao state was not strong, as soon as the Zhao king died, the other princes felt that the Zhao state had no one, and they all moved the mind of dividing the Zhao state, and the five kings of qin, Chu, Qi, Wei, and Yan wanted to take the opportunity to attend the funeral of the king of Zhao, bring troops into Zhao, and take advantage of the situation to dismember the zhao state.
But what they did not expect was that at this critical moment when the survival of zhao guo was at stake, the young Zhao Yong, who was only 15 years old, actually showed the wisdom and determination of the Heavenly Divine Martial Arts!
Zhao Yong first united with his neighbors Korea and the Song kingdom, and the three kingdoms such as the "pin" pattern cracked the joint offensive of Qin, Wei, and Qi, and then used diplomatic means to bribe lou to annoy the country in the north, causing the Yan kingdom to catch fire in the backyard and had to retreat; the south bribed the Yue kingdom to take advantage of the Chu king's departure to attack Chu, so that the chu king would ignore the tail.
Without the participation of the two great powers of Yan and Chu, Qin, Wei, and Qi were somewhat less confident, and Zhao Yong then vigorously mobilized all the troops of the State of Zhao to be on guard at the first level, and sent emissaries to warn Qin, Wei, and Qi respectively: Foreign kings mourn the welcome of King Zhao, but they must not bring troops into the country, otherwise the Zhao army will give a head-on attack!
Zhao Yong, with this profound wisdom and courage, deeply shocked the ambitions of the kings of the Five Kingdoms, and with a mighty light, he stepped onto the stage of history!
When Zhao Yong first came to power, the State of Zhao was not yet the powerful country comparable to Qin and Chu in later generations, and even the Zhongshan State established by the Di people in the north of the State of Zhao dared to constantly harass and invade it. It is no wonder that although the territory of the Zhao Kingdom was much larger than that of the Zhongshan Kingdom, and its population and military strength were far superior, the Zhongshan Kingdom had an advantage that the Warring States did not have at that time, that is, it was proficient in riding and shooting.
In the Spring and Autumn Period and even in the early Warring States period, the army structure and strategy and tactics of the Chinese army were still stuck in the mode formulated by the very backward Western Zhou military system, and the branches of the army that played a decisive role in the army were still very old chariot soldiers, heavy and slow chariots, not yet as weapons for mobile combat, but only the combat "fortress" of noble warriors, which needed to be guarded by many infantry.
What is even more absurd is that the noble warriors in the early Spring and Autumn Warring States period fought, and also followed the pedantic Western Zhou etiquette system to make wide robes and large sleeves (possibly outside the armor), the action was very clumsy, so such an "antique" army to fight against the Di people who used the most advanced cavalry tactics, Zhao Junyan could win?
As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, many regions of Europe and Asia, such as Central Asia, were developed from the world's nomadic "originator", the Scythians, to the point of pure fire in the future, and the surrounding nomads followed the Scythians' "iconic" triangular hats, short robes, trousers, riding boots, and "compound bows" that could be bent and fired from a long distance.
The Di people of zhongshan kingdom are this Scythian style cavalry outfit, such a "short dress" is very powerful and fast, easy to ride, and the rapid mobility of the cavalry unit, as well as the thunderous power brought by the cavalry charge, are the most effective and destructive decisive forces in the era of cold weapons.
The discerning Zhao Yong was soon overwhelmed by the tactics of the Di people, and he realized that this was a technology that could bring major innovations to the entire Chinese civilization, so he decisively ordered: The Zhao army abandoned the old and costly chariot soldiers and formed the first cavalry unit of the Chinese nation!
In order to match the tactics of the cavalry, Zhao Yong also ordered that all noble warriors should adopt short robes and trousers and riding boots that the Di learned from the Scythians. This shocked and dissatisfied the nobles more than the abandoned chariot, but the far-sighted Zhao Yong forced this groundbreaking innovation through a series of tough means.
Facts soon verified Zhao Yong's wisdom, and the Zhao army of "Hufu Riding and Shooting" quickly smoothed the gap with the Di people, and soon swept away the Yidi state that had been harassing China as early as the Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty, and defeated the two nomadic peoples of Lin Hu and Xiongnu, and suddenly opened up a vast space to the north, so Liang Qichao called him "the first emperor of China after the Yellow Emperor".
The State of Zhao had always been invaded by the State of Qin, and now Zhao Yong had established yunzhong and jiuyuan counties in the Hetao Plain, forming a strategic enveloping posture against the state of Qin, and the balance of forces between Qin and Zhao began to reverse.
Zhao Yong, who was brilliant and strategic, also formulated an astonishing plan: He was ready to first send a huge "zhengjun" force to pretend to attack Hangu Pass, the gateway of the Qin state, involving a large number of the main forces of the Qin state, but secretly sending cavalry troops to quickly and flexibly detour through the clouds and carry out a "great detour", suddenly moving south from the direction of Hetao and directly attacking Xianyang.
This tactic is actually the same as the Nazi surprise attack on France more than two thousand years later, and the armored units of the Nazi German army bypassed the "Maginot Line" on which France was proud, carried out a "blitzkrieg" against the French hinterland from the gap in the north, and forced France, which is known as the world's third-largest power, to surrender in a month, which is enough to prove that this earth-shattering and bold idea is very effective.
In order to investigate the falsehood of the Qin State, Zhao Yong even personally disguised himself as a servant, followed the envoys of the Zhao State on the mission to the Qin State, and even calmly attended the banquet held by the King of Qin. At that time, the King of Qin was full of admiration for this domineering and exposed "nameless little official", and later learned that he was the king of the State of Zhao, and the monarchs of the State of Qin were all horrified, exclaiming that the nemesis of the State of Qin had come out!
But it is a pity that such a majestic and ambitious overlord of the ages actually left a curse due to the unwiseness of the heir, and died as a result.
Originally, in order to single-mindedly destroy Qin and dominate, zhao yong did not want to be the monarch, giving way to a young son, calling himself "the main father", and concentrating on forming an army and planning war.
However, due to the fire and fire of several sons in order to compete for the throne, Zhao Yong also unfortunately died together, at the age of 45. A generation of overlords, just like this heroic fall, really makes people sigh!
Many historians have hypothesized that if Zhao Yong had not died, then with his great talent, the grand plan of attacking Qin would have been entirely realized, and even the Zhao state might have replaced the Qin state and completed the great cause of unifying the six kingdoms at an early date.
But slowly, the Qin state is no better than the "girly" France, whether it is national strength or people's strength, the Qin state is the strongest in the Warring States era, it is difficult to imagine that the Qin state lost the capital and will surrender like France, unless the qin monarch is a dou like Liu Chan.
Moreover, even if the Qin state is destroyed, it is difficult for the Zhao state to continue to attack the other five countries, at least much more difficult than the unification of the six kingdoms by the Qin state.
The State of Zhao was a typical "land of four wars", surrounded by crowds of heroes, and it was difficult to implement the strategy of "long-distance and close-range attack" like the State of Qin. As long as Zhao Guo attacked, there would be strong neighbors who would take advantage of the fire and robbery, so Zhao Yong needed to take out far more troops and material resources than Qin Shi Huang.
Of course, this is just the speculation of an ordinary person, and with the great talent of King Zhao Wuling, most of them will think of a better way to unify the world.
In any case, King Wuling of Zhao can be called a rare great man in Chinese history, and if he had not died young, the history of the Warring States would certainly have undergone earth-shaking changes.